Next Week’s Calendar

The week begins with Day 3 Tuesday 11/15 Picture Retake Day Tuesday 11/15 PTA Meeting 6:00 PM Friday 11/18 Hat Day Friday 11/18 Early Dismissal 2:15

Volume 3, Issue 9 November 11, 2016

All Students are Ready, Responsible and Respectful

Inside This Issue

Counselor's Corner 2

Upcoming Dates 3

Virtual Backpack 3

Fifth graders use STEM 4

Gibson Gazette

Volunteers needed for hearing and vision screening

On Tuesday, November 15th, the kindergartners, 1st graders, and some other students will be having their hearing screened. Also, on Monday, November 14th, the 3rd graders will be having their vision checked. Volunteers are needed to bring kids in groups from the classroom to the screening area. Please sign up to help out!

Please let me know if you need me to adjust a time slot so you can help. If you have questions please contact Sara Radke at sfradke@gmail.com or 378-8321. You may also click the SignUpGenius logo below.

Oh no! We lost or damaged a library book! No one wakes up in the morning and sets a goal of losing or damaging a library book. At Viola Gibson Elementary, we assume that all of our students do their best to take good care of the materials they borrow from the library. However, We understand accidents happen and books do get misplaced. So here's what to do if your family runs into any of these problems:

What to do if a library book is damaged? Send the book to the IMC with a note on the front cover describing the damage Do not attempt to repair tears – we have a special tape just for that!

What to do if a book is lost? Keep looking – they usually turn up! We do not charge fines for overdue books during the school year, however, if the book is not turned in at the end of the year, we do send a bill. If the book turns up after you have paid for it, we will reimburse through the school district.

If you have any other library related questions, please feel free to contact us, Jan Anderson, Media Specialist or Barbara Ptacek, Media Secretary at 558-2754.

School Picture not quite

what you were expecting? Retakes are Tuesday,

November 15!

Page 2 Page 2 Volume 3, Issue 9

Level Student Infraction

Teacher Intervention

Minor

Arguing with adult / student Lying Talking back Ripping up paper Rude comments Uncooperative, unwilling to work with others Off task behavior Not listening Inappropriate noises, pounding tapping,

cheek flapping Blurting out Cheating Noncompliance Touching others

• Informal; teacher/student; conference; Apply check-in; Pro-cedure (teacher checks with the student) Social Story (resources on the L drive); “When Then”, Change seat; Re-direct to task; Change activity • Direct a question – choice options; Gesture; Proximity; Nonverbal cues; Time to cool down “Australia” “On Vaca-tions”; Sensory activities; Re-teaching PARRT lessons; Re-teaching skills; Calm corner – calm down spot; Break card – planned breaks; Distractions – random questions to distract; Visual cues Self-calming (Extra menu of self-calming strategies on the l drive?); Push, Pull, Dangle (calming strategy kids can do at their sets); Kids advocating; Rewards at designated times; Stress ball Ignore; Timers to get things done; Token economy Go to another room at the same grade level to “calm” down Assign job (student takes a note to the office to take a “break”)

Moderate *Note – Infractions listed in this catego-ry may borderline on the “Severe Lev-el” depending upon contributing factors such as: Tone, In-tent, Body Lan-guage, Situation, and History.

All the above but with more frequency, intensi-ty and duration PLUS:

Cussing in frustration (general) Throwing Stealing: repeated, frequent Talking back that escalates, continues

Teacher/student conference Withhold privilege Contact parent – involve parents in plan Assign penalty Assign afterschool Detention Arrange formal parent/PLC conference Poor choice letter; Plus Delta; Administrative support before it goes to severe – phone calls; Police Pal Behavior contracts; Write about what happened; Time out; Lunch alone; Detention during school hours? **What if parent support is lacking??

Severe

Yelling, screaming Physical aggression / fighting Threatening Cussing directed at someone Sexual comments / gestures / touching Bullying Self-injury Running fleeing Refusal to come in from recess Destroy property? On playground? Spitting on someone Bus ticket (what are the consequences for bus tickets?

Office staff discretion to the outcomes of the office referral **Follow-up – parents contacted “Processed with_________; Plan_______”

PBIS Behavior Levels Defined We met as a PBIS team yesterday at the ELSC (Education Learning and Support Center on Edgewood Rd) We continued

our process of ensuring that our implementation of PBIS is making a positive impact on student behavior. As a team, we want to keep parents informed about the systems we have in place at Viola Gibson. When we look at behavior, we have

as a staff defined “minor”, “moderate” and “severe” behaviors. With these definitions, we have also included possible proactive approaches to handle the behavior concerns. We want to share those with you so that you also can see how we approach behavior concerns at school. We will be sending out a PBIS survey to families within the coming weeks. We

value your comments and concerns! Watch for the survey link coming soon!

Counselor’s Corner…

From the desk of Chris Nelson, Viola Gibson Counselor

Page 3 Volume 3, Issue 9

Looking Ahead

Important Upcoming Dates

November

Saturday, 11/12—Run Club Turkey Trot

Saturday, 11/12—Lego League Competition

Tuesday, 11/15—PTA Meeting 6:00pm

Tuesday, 11/15—Picture Retake Day

Friday, 11/18— Hat Day

Wednesday—Friday, 11/23-11/25—Thanksgiving Break

December

Monday, 12/3—Third Grade CRFD Holiday Safety

Friday, 12/16—Pajama Day

Thursday, 12/22—Staff Progress Reporting NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

Friday, 12/23—Holiday Break Begins.

January

Classes resume Tuesday, 1/3/2017

Virtual Backpack Links

Here are this week’s additions to the Virtual Backpack*. Missed something?

Access earlier “VB” posts by clicking the link below.

To visit the CRCSD Virtual Backpack, click here

*The posting of this flyer in no way suggests endorsement of the program by the

Cedar Rapids Community School District.

Elf The Musical JR. at Kennedy High School

Snowy Owl Camp

Cedar Rapids Ice Arena November Events

Cedar Rapids Parks & Recreation Winter Programs

4th Annual Toys for Tots Christmas Vendor Show

Kennedy Cougar Den Holiday Open House and Online Order

Page 4 Volume 3, Issue 9 Viola Gibson Elementary

6101 Gibson Dr. NE

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52411

Phone numbers

Main Office 319-558-2920

Attendance 319-558-2565

Counselor 319-558-1694

FAX 319-393-0412

http://gibson.cr.k12.ia.us/

The Gibson Gazette is a

weekly school eNewsletter

sponsored by your PTA for

the students, parents, staff

and supporters of Viola

Gibson Elementary.

All submittals are welcome

and will be used at staff’s

discretion and as space

allows. All submittals and

questions should be

directed to the following

email address:

Gator Pride!

Non-Discrimination Policy

It is the policy of the Cedar Rapids

Community School District not to

illegally discriminate on the basis of

race, color, national origin, sex,

disability, religion, creed, age

(employment only), marital status,

sexual orientation, gender identity, and

socioeconomic status (students/

program only) in its educational

programs and its employment

practices.

There is a grievance procedure for

processing complaints of

discrimination. District employees with

questions or a grievance related to this

policy should contact Rodrick Dooley,

Executive Director of Human

Resources, rdooley@cr.k12.ia.us 319-

558- 2000. Students and others should

contact Ken Morris, Jr., Manager of

Student Equity/Title IX Coordinator,

kmorris@cr.k12.ia.us or Paul Hayes,

Director of Learning Supports/504

Compliance Officer

The students in Mrs.

Terry’s fifth grade class

had a great time on a

recent afternoon. They

ending their tall tale unit

with some STEM

challenges.

Students were given

different engineering

challenges and a container

of supplies. They could

only use the supplies in

their container to try to

complete the challenge!

I loved watching their

brains work and their

creativity flow!

We ended the day with the

movie Tall Tale in which

students are sketching

pictures to represent four

different characters in

action OR problem/

solution OR sequence.

We’re connecting how our

Reading is Thinking

strategies also apply to

movie stories!

STEM stands for science,

technology, engineering,

and math. It provides

students with hands-on

activities that encourage

students to experiment,

problem solve, and learn

that their failed attempts

are stepping stones to

success.

A problem is presented,

along with the criteria

(rules), and specified

materials. Students must

use the materials to solve

the problem. There are

numerous ways to solve

the problems.

Students become creators,

thinkers, problem solvers,

doers, innovators, and

inventors in a playful way.

They learn to explore and

work with a team in a

highly-engaging way!

Mrs. Terry’s fifth graders use

STEM to take on Tall Tales